The homeowner said he came home from work to find police, fire and ambulance crews at his house, adding: “I wanted to get home as soon as possible to make sure everyone was OK.”

He added: “Who knows what was going through his mind.

“I just wonder why and how somebody has got to that state of mind to do what he did at 7am in the morning.”

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: The suspect, a 47-year-old man, from Leeds, was brought out of house by officers and was treated by ambulance staff for smoke inhalation before being taken to hospital as a precaution.